Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha
Know your sheep
by name: carefully attend to your flocks; (Don’t take them for granted;
possessions don’t last forever, you know) and then, when the crops are in and
the harvest is stored in the barns, you can knit sweaters from lamb’s wool, and
sell your goats for a profit; there will be plenty of milk and meat to last
your family through the winter. Proverbs Chapter 27 verses 23 to 27, Message
Translation
In Proverbs Chapter 12 verse 11, the Bible refers to
the person who follows frivolity as a person devoid of understanding while a
person who tills his or her land will have plenty of bread. This is further
reiterated in Proverbs Chapter 28 verse 19 (plenty of bread for land tillers
and poverty for those who follow frivolity).
Additionally, the Bible instructs farmers and herds
owners in Proverbs Chapter 27 verses 23 to 27 to pay attention to their herds
for those herds are wealth creation resources (they should therefore be cared
for and maintained otherwise they will not bring benefits to the owner). The
immediate task before you is to identify your herds which is your business and
the wealth creation resources that God blessed with you to be successful and wealthy
in life. Once you identify them, then commit to minding them on a daily basis.
If you do not attend to them and keep minding the businesses of other people,
what happens to you and to the resources? You will be undernourished where you are
minding other people’s businesses while your own business suffers. Therefore, you
must give priority attention to your business. You also should not operate your
business under any other business that you are not in legally binding and financially
rewarding partnership with. Your business has been capacitated by God to stand successfully on her own without the
backing of any other business if only you will ask God for wisdom and grace to
succeed. That way, God alone takes the glory for the success of your business.
The vineyard of the lazy man devoid of understanding
(the person lacking sense, without sense) was overgrown with thorns, covered
with weeds and its walls were broken down because he did not pay attention to
it. If he did, he would have recognized the existence of the thorns and pulled
them up long before they grew strong and took over the field, choking life out
of the plants in the field; he would have also noticed the weeds competing for
nourishment the plant required; he would also have noticed the cracks in the
wall that expanded and led to broken down walls.
Beloved, any wise farmer knows that thorns and weeds
pose dangers to any farm. Two reasons – thorns not only compete for nourishment
and space for growth with plants in the farm; they also choke out life from the
plants by daily piercing the plants, drawing on their nourishment from the soil
as well as taking required space on the farm for the plants. What all of these
do is to place limits that hinder the growth of the plants and consequently,
over a period of time; choke out life from the plants while the thorns thrive.
This explains why the vineyard of the lazy man devoid of understanding was
overgrown with thorns. The thorns had successfully choked out life from the
plants and taken over the vineyard.
Weeds on the other hand compete for space and
nourishment with the plants. While they do not pierce the plants daily, they
deprive the plants of sufficient nourishment and space all of which ultimately
affect the growth of plants, albeit negatively. They thwart and dwarf the growth
of the plants and when nothing is done about it, the plants eventually wither
and die while the weeds flourish and occupy space. That is why the vineyard of
the lazy man devoid of understanding was covered with weeds. All of these
happened because the man did not or refused to pay attention to his vineyard.
Cracks in any wall are easily mended if sufficient
attention is paid to the wall to ensure that it remains strong to serve as the
protective measure it was originally designed to be. But when cracks are
ignored, little cracks can gradually expand to break down walls no matter how
strong those walls are. Song of Solomon Chapter 2 verse 15. It was this
inattention coupled with his laziness manifested in the love of sleep and rest
that culminated in the broken down walls of the vineyard.
Beloved, this story is very instructive, in point of
fact, a moral lesson on paying attention to God’s plans and purposes for our
lives and doing what has to be done when God wants us to do it. It also
explains why the Bible instructs believers to till their lands so that they can
be productive, fruitful and successful. Please see Proverbs Chapter 28 verse
19, 27 verses 23 to 27, 12 verse 11. The moral lesson is give attention to your
herds; mind your business and you will be successful and flourishing in Jesus
mighty name.
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